A Welcome Note to the Fertile Heart Visionary Mamas Circle

“Those four long years were all about creating this little piece of magic. I get it now. I know what you were saying all that time.”

Dear Steadfastly Fertile Moms,

Thank you for your interest in the Visionary Mamas community. Congratulations on your courage to hit the “less travelled trail” toward your child. I might be a little biased (although my bias is founded on pretty solid evidence) if I say that a choice to engage more actively with this practice and our amazing community is a choice to turn this challenge into the absolutely best thing that ever happened to you! No matter what! That’s really what we’re aiming for here in Fertile Heart land.

This is an ongoing 3 session fertility support teleconference series led by me. I post the schedule of sessions at the start of each series. For the most part sessions take place every other Monday.

The value you will receive from these sessions is in direct proportion to the attitude and quality of attention you give to the practice, which is why I ask that you please read this note to make sure you find what you’re looking for in our community.

The pre-requisite is completion of the 3 Session Introductory Series or attendance of the Woodstock workshop. . I also ask that you check with me about space before registering by sending an email to info@fertileheart.com with Visionary in the subject line)

If you are receiving this note, you are welcome to join us and register for the remaining number of sessions in the North American Visionary Mamas circle and then email me for the dial in number. (See instructions on registering in the “logistics” part of this note).

Before you register, could you please tale a few minutes to read this not in its entirety? I’m hoping that as I keep clarifying my own needs at this point of my evolution as a leader of a fledgling fertility- game-changer community and encourage each of you to become clearer about your own needs, we will keep co-creating a more respectful, loving, conception-friendly space.

All other teleconferences and workshops are open to everyone unconditionally. All you need to do is pay the registration fee and participate to whatever extent you wish. The Visionary Mamas group is different.

Very few people have witnessed as much confusion and exploitation in the field of baby-making as I have. I’ve been speaking up now, one way or another, for close to 20 years. Slowly, very slowly, my work is being recognized but it is still mostly marginalized. I am growing stronger in my ability to speak up for myself, but my voice alone is not enough.

If I say, this is a Visionary Mamas group, I have to honor that. We need to be Visionary Moms and Dads for the incoming generation, otherwise the suffering in our beautiful human family is bound to keep escalating. I’m hoping that the idea of knowing that you are needed, the idea of supporting the activist voice of this community will energize and enliven you. It certainly has energized me all these years.

Before you sign up to register, take some time to consider whether you’d be willing to join me in strengthening the voice of Fertile Heart by engaging in conversation with me on the blogs and any other social media sites that you’re part of. Then take a look at the notes below describing the structure of each session and the suggestions for staying in touch between calls.

And then challenge yourself to tell the truth. Is this what you want right now? If the answer is yes send me a short note letting me know you read this and hear me and let me know that you have registered.

If the answer is no, please know how much I appreciate your honesty.

I very much hope that you still keep in touch, stay on our mailing list and send a pix when your baby arrives. And perhaps we can still get to connect through the Free FH Chats I continue to offer from time to time, or perhaps you’ll call in on one of our Guest Teacher Teleconferences.

Now logistics;

If you are registering for the Visionary Mamas Series prior to the first session, you can do so through the website. Just go to the Event’s Page and click on the event. You can also register at any point for the remaining number of sessions of a series by sending your payment through paypal to the following address epp@fertileheart.com or sending a check to po box 767 woodstock, ny, 12498. Each session is currently $36 so please pro-rate your registration fee accordingly.

For the most current North American/International Circle Dates go to the Events Page. Also please always check the website events page prior to the call to make sure there are no changes.

In order to keep our services at as affordable a cost as possible, we employ a very small staff and appreciate you taking the responsibility for keeping track of the number of circles you are attending and submitting appropriate payment. Just to be clear, if you join us after the series had begun, you would be registering for all the remaining sessions of that series.

I will email you the dial in for the series after receiving your reply to this note letting me know that you have registered.

Important: Please take responsibility for receiving the Dial In number for each series. The number usually changes at the beginning of each series but sometimes it changes for each call. So always check the Visionary Moms thread for your group prior to each session for any announcements.

A review of guidelines:

You have registered for 3 consecutive circles that convene on the dates designated above. That means that you won’t be getting credit for missed circles. Continuity and community is what we’re aiming for, and that can only happen if we can count on each other to show up as consistently as is doable for each of us. Also, as I’ve pointed out elsewhere, baby making is such an emotionally charged subject, those little rascal Orphans look for an escape route every chance they get. Which is also why continuity is important for the emergence of a strong Visionary who can show up for herself especially when the going gets tough.

The Structure of each session:
We spend the first part of the session focusing on a section, paragraph, sentence, idea, etc from The Fertile Female or Inconceivable, or from one of the CD’s.

In the second part of the session the people who have posted a request to work on the appropriate thread on the message board initiate a theme and we deepen our understanding of the practice by engaging with that theme using the FH tools.

We also spend usually a very short time during the circle talking about simple ways to support the evolution of a more engaged community. Fertile Heart is an independent sponsorship free organization. A small shift from an attitude that expects “customer service” to “how can I help?” would be a wonderful place to start.

I very much want to get to know you and support you with all my heart, but I need to also create some healthy boundaries around our communication. As much as I want to be there for you, it’s impossible for me to respond to individual emails between sessions in any meaningful way and I’d rather not just shoot off a superficial answer. If you have a burning issue that you wish to address, by all means, send me a brief email on the day of the call and I will do my best to engage with you. Thank you again for your consideration in this regard.

Some suggestions for staying in touch between sessions:

Giving birth to the Visionary Mama within is the wonderfulest of adventures, and as all births, it doesn’t happen without contractions. Things can come up between sessions that might feel challenging and a supportive note from the “sisterhood” might make all the difference. The Visionary Mamas Forum and the blogs are meant to support you in sharing insights and connecting with each other, with me, and with the practice during the time between the circles.

The suggestions below are not requirements, we are grown ups and each of us will do what we are ready for. At the same time, as in any adventure–the more we engage, the more we open, the more we give–the more we receive. And as all passionate teachers I am inspired by engaged students, and offer homework suggestions that support you in the learning process; it’s usually fun homework, so I do hope you’ll engage when you can.

Sharing an insight about your practice in the comments section of the blogs and on the Visionary Mamas Forum. Please look at that Forum and find the thread for your group. I usually start a thread at the start of the series so look for those dates.

The comments on the blogs are essential for supporting the growth of this community. I read them and respond when I can. I get to know what you and the group needs to work on the calls. Most important: you get to articulate your insights and share them and by doing so deepen your understanding of yourself and this practice. The blogs are also a way for us to be a voice of change. I often bring up topics that are rarely challenged by the rest of the “infertility” community. So please let me know that you hear me by taking a moment to reflect on the topic at hand and posting a comment. If I have not posted a new blog, read through the titles of earlier blog posts and chances are you’ll find a topic that that is relevant to your journey.

If you’d like me to address a specific topic you’ve been wrestling with, please email me at info@fertileheart.com a day before the call. You don’t need to go into detail just send me a brief note.You can also post a request to work on something on the Visionary Mamas Forum thread for your series.(On July 15, I’d like to work h on something that has come up for me recently) If no one has started a thread, then please take the initiative to start one. The size of the Visionary Moms group fluctuates, and clearly even in a small group not everyone will have a chance to “work.” If you’ve ever been part of any therapeutic circles you might know that this is often true in group of all sizes. If you’re open to receive it, it’s often the insight of one of the other participants that can be the most pivotal piece in your journey.

If you miss a session, please don’t ask me or the other moms to share the suggested homework. I make homework recommendations based on what happens in the group and we would need to spend lots time filling you in to make the homework meaningful. The basic homework is always the same: 1to 2 imagery exercises from either CD’s or The Fertile Female, at least One Body Truth sequence each day, encouragement to take a Visionary rooted step (we’ll talk more about this on the calls).

Thank you again for being part of our community. Please know how much I value your presence in our awesome circle of game-changer moms!